


With Golden String

by imustspeakmyheart



Series: Clothed In Light [1]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Character Study, M/M, Post-Canon, Romantic Fluff, Soft Gays Only, These are Peter loving Juno hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 07:37:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16132670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imustspeakmyheart/pseuds/imustspeakmyheart
Summary: Peter looks at Juno often. In fact, it’s one of his favourite pastimes, whether they’re just lounging around in Juno’s apartment or making a fast get away during a job. His eyes find their way to his partner’s form automatically by now, effortlessly pulled in by his gravity.He looks at Juno often, so he doesn’t know why this time is different.--Peter learns what it's like to watch a loved one witness something remarkable, or, A Study in Sunlight.





	With Golden String

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, this fic was inspired by an amazing fanart by [asirrissa](http://asirrisa.tumblr.com/) which can be found [here](http://asirrisa.tumblr.com/post/178449763908/juno-steel-private-eye-if-you-want-to-be-sad). You should also check out their insta @specialtater !!
> 
> Special thanks to [PrivateBi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrivateBi/pseuds/PrivateBi) for beta-reading this, you should go check out her fics too they're great!!
> 
> Title is from Sun by Sleeping at Last (when isn't it)

Peter looks at Juno often. In fact, it’s one of his favourite pastimes, whether they’re just lounging around in Juno’s apartment or making a fast get away during a job. His eyes find their way to his partner’s form automatically by now, effortlessly pulled in by his gravity.

He looks at Juno often, so he doesn’t know why this time is different.

They’re traveling together, just the two of them, after Peter finally managed to convince his stubborn detective to take a break after a particularly heavy case. It involved a lot of clever deliberation, allowing for Juno to pick their destinations so he felt more in control of the situation. Their holiday also has a strict ‘no stealing, no heists, no jobs’ contingency. If Juno Steel agreed to be whisked away from his work then Peter would have to do the same. It was only fair.

Juno had chosen Casimir Delta as their first stop because of its natural sun and liveable atmosphere. Peter can still hear Juno’s voice as he admitted that he’d always wanted to feel a star’s warmth, unfiltered on his skin, without the threat of radiation that was present on Mars. Such a simple dream, but Juno had sounded so embarrassed by it that Peter had to wonder if anyone had ever made fun of him for it. Naturally, it had become Peter’s personal mission to gift Juno this experience.

It happens when Juno is taking his clothes off after their first day spent exploring Casimir Delta. Peter doesn’t mean to look; he’s changing as well and by this point there’s nothing novel about undressing in front of each other anymore.

What makes him look is that Juno’s standing still with his sweater bunched at his wrists, frozen in the motion of taking it off as if someone paused a movie. He’s wearing that soft pink lacy bralette - the one he knows Peter loves - under the sweater. Peter would dwell on that more, but he’s too busy looking at Juno’s face. It’s turned toward the window where the curtains only reveal the barest sliver of light coming from the outside. The sun is setting and Juno’s watching its last light disappear from the horizon.

It’s not a passing glance; he’s entranced, so arrested in his movement that his arms grow tired and lower limply to his side, the sweater still hanging from them. Juno’s side is bathed in golden light and for a moment Peter can’t breathe. It’s like a picture, a captured  moment that Peter wants to grasp and force into tangibility so he can store it in his pockets forever.

And suddenly, Peter gets it. Never before has he seen Juno outside of  Hyperion with its dark neon-lit nights and harsh dust-tinged days.

Everything they’d ever done together, everything Juno had ever  _ been, _ had Mars’s red dust smeared all over it. Of course, Peter thinks the planet has its charms - one of them is standing right in front of him, naturally - but there’s something intoxicating about Juno stripped bare of that red film. Like so many waterfalls, the light from the windows pools into Juno’s skin, washing it clean just for as long as he’ll let it.

He’s so beautiful. And Peter knows this, thinks it every single time he so much as glances at Juno from the corner of his eyes. In that moment, though, Juno looks soft in a way Peter never thought he’d witness, scrubbed clean of harsh lines and gruff pretence until the lady underneath is finally visible. The light blurs out his edges until his profile is a halo all over.  

Scars still litter his body, as much a part of him as anything else. Peter has spent nights mapping out those scars, charting them like constellations on Juno’s skin with a mythology all of their own. Peter looks at each of the crisscrossing lines, following them over the landscape of Juno’s bare torso. Even these look less threatening; memories of pain certainly, but a testament of strength too. Of life.

All these things coming together to create perfect whole, this image of Juno, a goddess in mortal coil, sunlight leaking out of his very skin. Such a comparison could never be out of proportion for his Juno, regal but for his slouch and proud despite his myriad insecurities. Peter sees all this, but underneath it all, deep inside the awestruck stare of his goddess is a young lady who grew up on Mars staring out of his bedroom window.

The story unfolds in front of him now, dozens of childhood nights spent looking up at the dome that filtered out the harsh sun, a youth spent learning time and time again that the light was harmful and dangerous, its warmth a treacherous gift. Peter filed all those fanciful thoughts away, determined to ask Juno about them at a time when he might get an honest answer.

For now Peter is content to romanticise himself an entire epic, with his Juno as the heroine. The quest for light is an admirable one.

Juno’s chest rises and falls slowly, steadily, and this more than anything tells Peter how content his darling is in that moment, not stressed or anxious or angry. Watching the sunset on Casimar Delta as if it was the only thing that existed in the whole known universe.

A selfish part of Peter, one that covets and takes as a second nature, resents it a little bit that he’s not included in this moment. That is, until he remembers that this had never once been about him, but to grant Juno Steel the joy of seeing and feeling real unmuted light. It was his privilege to be there, to witness Juno breathe so easily, and to know that he had helped to make it happen.

Peter shifts on the bed, rustling the sheets and making the bed creak. Just an unconscious, slight movement, but it was enough to make Juno start. The spell broken, Juno blinks a few times and wets his lips, his eyes on Peter though they still seemed unfocused. He could practically hear the construction of defensive walls, could see Juno tense up and frown as he was pulled out of the little bubble that he hadn’t realized he’d entered. 

Instantly, Peter is at his side, hands catching Juno’s as he becomes aware of the sweater still hanging from his arms. He pulls Juno a little bit away from the window, facing him.

“Peter…” Juno whispers, barely a sound.

With some coaxing, the sweater slides from Juno’s hands, swiftly tossed to some corner of the room to be forgotten.

“I think you went off-world for a minute there, Juno. Go anywhere nice?” Peter asks, clothing his words in fondness to deflect any and all embarrassment Juno might feel. One of his hands cradles the side of Juno’s face while the other comes to rest on his sunlit waist, fingers splayed at the junction of lace and skin.

“Yeah, I- I did. Were you just staring at me?” He’s lost in the memory of the sunset for moment, before he catches up to what the situation must have been. Juno like a marble statue, 

Peter the voyeur. Well, isn’t he a work of art, his Juno?

Peter’s lips twitch a smile.

“You cut quite the striking silhouette Juno, you can hardly blame me. I’m a simple man.” His eyes crinkle at the corners; Juno’s hands find their ways to his waist even as he pouts at Peter’s answer.

Peter thinks, as the sunlight grows fainter behind the curtains, that he wants to dedicate his life to making memories with Juno Steel. He wants to see more of the hidden parts his detective hides, already wondering where he can take Juno to bring them to light. Most remarkable of all is that he wants to be given these moments as gifts, rather than treasures to be taken. 

“Creep.” Juno grouches half-heartedly, his gaze tender. 

With his thumb, Peter brushes at the corner of Juno’s mouth affectionately in favour of a response, tilting his head and hoping the intent is clear. 

They’re gravitating toward each other without having to speak, leaning in closer until finally their lips meet. Peter kisses Juno softly, no demanding tongue or biting teeth. Just this: the two of them in a hotel room on Casimar Delta, their faces bathed in the retreating light. 

Peter never wants to forget this kiss. What else was there to do, then, but what he did best? So he covets the moment, holds tight to the memory of Juno bathed in light like a goddess living, tasting his sun-warmed mouth, smiling wider and wider still.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so so much for reading! 
> 
> Kudos and comments always appreciated, they make my day. 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at imustspeakmyheart


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